BAKERSFIELD, Cali — A Bakersfield teen who has been living with cancer for most of his life has had the support of the community during his battle and he wants to pay that generosity forward.
Fourteen-year-old, Issac Pizano, continues to spread positivity and raise awareness about childhood cancer, while undergoing his own chemotherapy for a third time.
“I was honestly sad to hear that it grew back and I was like, 'well, here we go again.'” Issac said.
Issac is familiar with chemotherapy. At just five years old he was diagnosed with cancer.
“When he was in kindergarten he started developing headaches and he turned out to have the diagnosis of a brain tumor,” Margaret Johnson, Issac’s Grandmother, said.
After many surgeries and tests over the years, the tumor had been stable, but a few months ago, after Issac turned 14, they found that the tumor had grown.
“It went from 7 millimeters to 14 millimeters, which doubled in size,” Johnson said.
Issac is now going through chemo again and has just finished his third session out of 52, but that hasn’t stopped Issac from keeping a smile on his face.
“I have always tried to stay positive about it,” Issac said.
And, he isn’t alone. Many members of the community have been following Issac’s story for years through a Facebook page called Team Issac.
“It feels great having people on your side and it helps you get through the bad things,” Issac said.
Team Issac does more than just spread awareness about Issac and Childhood cancer, they also help others who may be facing a similar situation by fundraising or holding food and toy drives.
“We tried to help him focus on other peoples problems because, if you are looking at other peoples problems, your own don’t always seem quit as bad because there is always someone who is a little worse off than you are,” Johnson said.
Issac’s generosity and passion for helping others earned him the Humanitarian of the Year award in 2020, for helping those struggling to stay positive, just like others have for him. While COVID-19 has stopped a lot of these fundraisers, Issac has remained hopeful and plans to continue to help more in the community once it is safe to do so.
“We are all in a place where we can be kind to each other and give each other a helping hand and that is really what Team Issac is, especially Issac, that is what he is all about,” Johnson said.
